There is no harm in trying things out | #53

I put myself on Google Maps as a business... read on!

ANTICLIMAX ALERT: NOTHING MAJOR HAPPENS BUT THEREIN LIES THE POINT!

A little over two years ago, I set up a business profile placing ‘Bodywork with Caryn’ on Google Maps:

I had just completed my Level 3 Diploma in Sports Massage:

I didn’t do this because I’d just changed careers to become a massage therapist, I was also not particularly needing more money. It was more a curiosity around how to engage with this new skill I had spent years wanting to learn and finally having the opportunity to. I decided that putting myself on Google Maps was a great way to test out how in demand my offering was.

What You Learn from Small Bets

So, I set up a website detailing my training, pricing, and a form for potential clients to contact me - many did. The website is still live, here is a screenshot below (I am actually back in data and AI and love it so that part is a bit out of date:

People actually filled out my form (lol, I see an error in the column title for massage type, ignore that) and made it all really tangible:

But despite the demand, what I found most rewarding wasn’t the money—because, in fact, I consciously chose to make none. As requests came in, I quickly realised I wasn’t interested in taking on any clients at all! To each of these enquiries, I did some follow up but never ended up providing any of them a service.

Despite that, I found value in the experiment. Putting myself out there meant I put my money where my mouth is. It allowed me to really test this idea of trading time for massaging others, rather than just thinking about how much I’d like it in my head. While the idea felt good in my mind, when the demand for my offering came, I wasn’t feeling too excited to spend my time this way. This was how I knew that it was not for me.

Some not so exciting metrics with a lot of insight

Periodically, Google Business Profile would send me stats on how my listing was performing. Within two months, I had 91 profile views and 64 people asking for directions to my massage service. It was super cool to see people showing real intent to buy something I offered. Frankly, any number above zero was exciting.

It was a small bet that I can create something, put it out in the world and have strangers say ‘Hey I am interested in that’.

Below is a graph showing how many views I received and how people found me.

And these are the ways people discovered me on Google. Not surprisingly most came through searching for a massage therapist close-by, others came from google search and a very small number found this link through googling my name!

So, here is my question to you- what small bets are you placing on yourself? What little experiments are you running to explore and evolve more and more into yourself? Maybe, like me, you have many interests. Testing them out in small ways can help clarify how they fit into your life.

Where I am going next with all this

I got two insights out of this:

1. I don’t need to monetise my bodywork practice to validate it. Bodywork is an integral part of my life—both in my personal practice and in my curiosity about the mind-body connection.

2. After putting this out there for two years and a hiatus from actively massaging, I am feeling a renewed pull toward deepening my bodywork training. I already know where I want this to go but I’ll reveal it soon :)

So, I simply ask that you put yourself out there

What do you want to learn more about? What do you want to explore? What are ways you can step into those interests without needing to go all in?

Sara Campbell

who I deeply admire and appreciate is creating a 90 day container for women to do exactly this! You can read more about what she is up to (no affiliate, I just like to broadcast good stuff ) here:

Tiny Revolutions №118: F/ck Manifesting. Build Your Own Fire.

The point isn’t about going viral or becoming an influencer. It’s about living in closer alignment with your truth, about becoming more yourself, and about evolving each day into the person you truly want to be. And to do that you first need to try things out.

With curiosity to tinker,

Caryn